Chanel: From Egypt To Manhattan

Cleopatra and craftsmanship come together in a triumphant, powerful display of imagination and skill

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Karl
Lagerfeld's collection for Chanel Pre-Fall 2019 paid homage both to New
York and to ancient Egypt, and was presented – fittingly – in the
Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Olivier Saillant

“A
pyramid is the greatest work of minimalist art,” said Karl Lagerfeld in
the casual but erudite way he confronts his ever-changing vision of
Chanel.The show he sent out in New York was a triumph of
imagination and craftsmanship. It was also witty and fun, as models with
the eyes of Cleopatra and sinuous silhouettes clothed in Coco walked
through the Temple of Dendur – the ancient Egyptian monument gifted to
the Metropolitan Museum forty years ago.

It was as though the ancient love story of Isis and
Osiris (played by rapper Pharrell Williams, head-to-toe in gold) had
fused with modern sportswear and Chanel tweedy classics. Bringing
ancient and modern together were gilded boots, golden stretch hose and
pristine gauze skirts offering a faint outline of the models’ legs.

“I didn’t do research – I have no storyboard – it all
comes from my mind, and so many books I once read,” said Karl, who
greeted the audience with Virginie Viard – the head of his Chanel studio
– as he did for his previous ready-to-wear show in Paris. His mascot
and godson, Hudson Kroenig, also took a bow, in golden
head-and-boot-wear and a sweater patterned with ancient Egyptian
figures.

Karl
Lagerfeld at the finale of his Pre-Fall collection for Chanel, with
Virginie Viard – his head of studio – and his godson Hudson Kroenig

GoRunway

Behind the rivulets of accessories, including
pseudo-ancient necklaces and pyramid-shaped handbags, were many stories –
not of a historic past – but of now. The prime purpose of the annual
Chanel end-of-year collection is to celebrate the ‘Métiers d’Art’ – the
group of knitters, hatters, shoe makers, feather workers, and jewellers
that Chanel brought together in the new millennium under the banner of
‘Par affection’, meaning a loving embrace to encompass the financial
protection of ancient skills. Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s President of
Fashion, has already said that a new Paris home for the different
artisans is under construction.

The
theme may have been ancient Egypt, but Karl Lagerfeld's boundless
imagination produced looks that were decidedly fresh, upbeat and modern

Getty

Unlike any other luxury company’s high-end brand, this
mid-season show is therefore designed to present the skills of specific
hand-workers. In the past, this has often been difficult to grasp from a
big runway show. But the clarity of cut, the strength of materials and
obvious skills made this Métiers d’Arts collection specific – especially
in the powerful jewellery, which included replicas of scarabs as
decoration or even as the clasp of a clutch bag. Guests Penelope Cruz
and Blake Lively were drooling over the accessories backstage.

It is so challenging in fashion to refer to the past without
turning a show into a theatrical performance and the clothes into
costume. Karl’s imagination included the modern artworks of French
painter and graffiti artist Cyril Kongo, with patterns mashing up
ancient and current; while references to the Italian Memphis group,
whose furniture the designer collected in the 1980s, also made inroads
on the collection. The designer’s ability to mix modern artists and
historic references into an apparently classic Chanel tweedy outfit is
unparalleled in the fashion world.

Karl Lagerfeld's Pre-Fall collection for Chanel also included the work of French artist Cyril Kongo

GoRunway

Yet in other ways, times are changing. Couture designers
cannot stand still in the face of modern movements. An official
statement from Bruno Pavlovsky this week announced that Chanel will no
longer use any exotic skins, stamping on the couture house a trend that
is already evident in ready-to-wear. This anti-fur, anti-exotic leather
move has been active in the United States, and must therefore have been
considered a good place for the announcement.

But why was New York selected as the platform for this
year’s Métiers d’Art show, which has toured the world wherever there are
connections with either Karl or Coco? Last year, the show went to
Karl’s birthplace in Germany’s Hamburg.The ingenious answer for
the choice of America was that it was the first country outside France
to welcome the work of Coco Chanel with open arms. If the company wanted
an example of early international connections, New York was a perfect
place to choose. And for Karl there were other references, to a time
when the discovery of the tomb of Tutanhkhamun in the 1920s set off a
wave of Egyptomania, traced so powerfully in the arts and in Manhattan’s
architecture, such as the Chrysler building and other Art Deco
skyscrapers.

Karl’s genius is to wear his formidable knowledge lightly, and to apply it as subtly as those wafting chiffon underskirts. In this gleaming Métiers d’Arts collection, both the designer and Chanel struck gold.

Chanel's models parade past the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York